Govt should not use court-related excuses for 42 pc BC reservations in ZPTC and MPTC polls: BC Commission

The Telangana Backward Classes Commission has urged the State government to ensure 42 percent reservations for BCs in ZPTC and MPTC elections. Citing Gram Panchayat poll results, it called for legal and constitutional steps to strengthen the quota and include it in the Ninth Schedule.

Hyderabad: The Telangana Backward Classes Commission asked the State government not to use court-related excuses and ensure that 42 percent reservations are provided to BCs in ZPTC and MPTC elections.

The State Government should consult the Central Government on the issue. It should bring the Gram Panchayat election results to the Centre’s notice and increase pressure, besides initiating steps to ensure that 42 percent reservations to BCs are included in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution, the BC Commission said in a statement issued here on Friday.

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The State Government should also challenge the five-judge Constitution Bench judgment in the Krishnamurthy case, which directed that reservations should not exceed 50 percent. It should file a review petition in the Supreme Court, seeking reconsideration by a larger seven-judge Constitution Bench, the Commission demanded.

Telangana Backward Classes Commission Chairman G Niranjan and members Rapolu Jayaprakash, Tirumalagiri Surender and Smt Balalakshmi Rangu expressed happiness over the large-scale victory of BC candidates in the Gram Panchayat elections.

Even though 42 percent BC reservations were not implemented in the Gram Panchayat elections as earlier announced, the fact that BC candidates won 52.75 percent of the seats in general categories was a clear indication of growing awareness and consciousness among BCs, the Commission observed.

Across the State, BC candidates won 39.51 percent of the seats. However, excluding tribal districts, this figure increases to 45.25 percent. Those opposing 42 percent reservations for BCs should now open their eyes to this reality, it stressed.